Tags Archives:MCMI Report

MCMI Report: Jay Lonzo – Live! From Brooklyn (Official Music Video) #MCMI – Newcomer Jay Lonzo drops a couple of introductory verses over a Statik Selectah/Mac Miller/ Terminology track. I have to put the MCMI stamp of approval on this one. Full disclosure: Jay Lonzo is the son of a friend of mine. I helped him record his first freestyle for Soundcloud not too long ago. He has tremendous talent. His songwriting is excellent as well. Hooks, concepts, storylines, not what you expect from a 15 year old. I told him to keep honing his skills, keep the right team around him and in a year or two he would be a beast.

Well, Jay is not trying to wait that long! In only a few months he crafted this banger, recorded it with the help of the homie Marc Bars (aka Mr. Metaphor from Brooklyn Academy), got with his team of like-minded individuals and shot this video. AmbrosiaForHeads has already branded him “the next great Brooklyn MC” and says

“One listen to his song, “Live! From Brooklyn,” … reveals an artist who sounds like he’s put in years of work”

Well, although he is young, Lonzo actually has put in years of work. Work writing in the pad, listening to the greats, learning from his pops, (who rhymes and sings himself, but keeps it on the low), working with MC’s, producers, photographers and video directors and getting knowledge from everywhere he can. That’s how he can drop gems like

“Just because you post up with a vest doesn’t mean that you’re iron proof.”

On the set of his video, directed, shot and edited by by Jay, Ezru and Kodagenic, I saw that he had assembled a formidable team, friends his age, (The Goodz Productions, J Da Liberator, Fresh The Prophet) who are positive, creative and about their business. It was great to see Mom and Dad there encouraging Jay to follow his dreams. I think a strong foundation of family will help this promising MC stay grounded, avoiding the common pitfalls of the streets and the music industry.

From the sound of what he’s spittin’ in this video, I’d say the wait is over – Jay Lonzo has arrived! You can expect a lot of heat from this kid. You can quote me on that.

This is one part of an incredible Hip Hop set at the PH MEMORIAL TRIBUTE CONCERT, thrown by the PH MEMORIAL TRIBUTE COMMITTEE. In the event, we matched up groups of MC’s to perform super-sets together, each artist contributing one part to the set. This is U.G. of the CellaDwellas. Also in that set were Mic Handz and Skyzoo – videos coming soon.

First, U.G. sets the mood with some choice words for our fallen angel PH aka PUMPKINHEAD, then spits fire over a crazy beat, but not before hyping the crowd with some energetic call and response. This is MC-ing at its best, for a good cause. We call this one “Letter to My Boy PH”. Shout out to U.G. and all the artist who rocked that night. You raised money for his kids, you raised his wife’s spirits and all of ours as well, as we poured our hearts out in the music, for our brother PH.

For those of you who are not familiar with Cella Dwellas, the group consists of U.G. & Phantasm. These lyrically gifted brothers came to fame as a staple of the lyricists Lounge in the early 90′s and then got a record deal with LOUD in ’94. They were also known to body Stretch & Bobbito’s world renowned radio show with freestyles and appeared on Lyricist Lounge’s Underground Airplay cassette’s that came with Ecko Clothing back in the day. Their first single on Loud, “Land of the Lost” is hailed as a classic. They also dropped “The GoodDwellas” and “Perfect Match” off of that first album, but personally I feel the whole album is classic. If that was before your time, or you missed it, go do your research. The album is bangin’!

In the 2000’s the group shortened their name to The Dwellas and dropped The Last Shall Be First, also on LOUD Records. That album also got rave reviews, so go check for it. Since then, U.G. and Phantasm have made many guest appearances, released group songs as well as solo material. The styles are updated, but the skills are still next level.

You can check out Phantasm’s recent release, Shed No Tears (which is dedicated to PH and fellow Decepticon Sean Price).

We will be putting up another clip from that night each week, so stay tuned and subscribe to MCMIreport Youtube Channel, for Hip Hop events, interviews, behind the scenes videos, and more, if you haven’t already. Shout out to Bryan form theBeeShine.com who shot this footage for us.

Since the passing of Robert “PH” Diaz (also known to us as Pumpkinhead) on June 9th, the PH logo tee shirt has been the most popular selling MCMI Apparel tee shirt, as fans and friends alike have wanted something to commemorate the Underground King and also because 100% of the money made off of the shirt goes to the fund for his children.

While we have had shirts with the regular logo available on our website (MCMIapparel.com) for awhile, in Red, White & Blue colors, the new shirt, with the added halo, symbolizing #FallenAngel, comes in Blue, White and Orange. Orange was always PH’s favorite color and for our upcoming BTG Halloween Monster Jam & Celebration of the Life & Rhymes of PH aka Pumpkinhead, we will have a limited run of the shirt available, seen here worn by close friends Rodney “LR Blitzkrieg” Willie (who designed the logo), Claudia “CL Smoothie” Imperiale and Malik “MrMecc” Rashawn.

You can purchase the shirt in advance, along with the Poster, a ticket to the Oct. 28th event and a copy of PH’s last full length album “KNOW THE LEDGE”, as part of thePATRON PACKAGE (click for more info). These are LIMITED RUN shirts. We do not have them available anywhere online at this time, so this is the ONLY place you can get them.

Since the days of the Lyricist Lounge, when the Cella Dwellas were the hot up and coming group that we loved to hear freestyle on the radio, perform onstage and spit in the cyphers, I have admired the originality of these brothers U.G. and Phantasm (pka The Tallman). Their style was something new brought to the game and while there were some imitators, no one was ever able to duplicate their mixture of Realms & Reality (the name of their 1996 Debut album on LOUD Records). Since then, they have changed the group name to The Dwellas and also have put out solo work.

This time up to bat is Phantasm, taking on a subject that touches dear to my heart, the reality that all men must die and asking his friends and family to Shed No Tears when it is his time to go.

After the deaths of two comrades in the music industry, Pumpkinhead & Sean Price, the lyrical vet was inspired to write on this topic, thinking about his own mortality. Directed by Olise Forel for Moving Silence, the visuals are moving and as a friend of both PH and Sean Price (who the video is dedicated to), I was moved to tears, despite the title.

Glad to see this veteran spitter putting in work, telling the true stories that need to be told. This is real Hip Hop at its finest.

In loving memory of our brothers J. Arch (1976 – 2014), Robert “PH” Diaz (1975 – 2015), Sean Price (1972 – 2015) and Moe Clevah (1974 – 2010), Team Homi’s Ike P dropped this hot verse from “LOOK NO FURTHER” a joint produced by Rob Dinero and featuring Swave Sevah and PStacks, but its just a teaser. though We will have to wait for Swave and Stacks’ verses. Ike’ s verse and the video are tight though, leaving us in anticipation of the Album, “BLACKIN” set to drop November 29th, 2015. The video was directed by LOTTAZAY. Already a household name in Battle Rap, Team Homi is making moves into the music industry this year, pulling no punches.